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12 April 2013

Israel’s Birthday

Next Tuesday Israel will be celebrating her 65th birthday and celebrating “Yom HaAtzma’ut” (Independence Day). So we spent some time this morning praising and thanking the God of Israel for some of the many ways in which He has fulfilled His word and is fulfilling His word in and through this nation even in their unbelief. Thank You, Father:

That the nation of Israel is being restored, as David Ben Gurion said, not because of the Holocaust, but despite the Holocaust.

That You are raising up a body of Jewish and non-Jewish believers in Yeshua who can praise You in Jerusalem, the City of the Great King.

That You are building up Jerusalem and gathering the outcasts. (Psalm 147:2)

That the Hebrew language has been revived.

That You have caused the dry bones to live. (Ezekiel 37)

That voices of joy and gladness are heard on Israel’s Independence Days and many other days in Jerusalem and in Israel’s other cities and villages. (Jeremiah 33:10-11)

That He who scattered Israel is gathering him and keeping him like a shepherd does his flock. (Jeremiah 31:10)

That You are causing the desert to begin to blossom. (Isaiah 35:1)

That the ancient ruins are being rebuilt. (Isaiah 61:4)

That old men and women are sitting in the streets and boys and girls are playing in the streets of Jerusalem. (Zechariah 8:4-5)

That the ransomed of the Lord are returning to Zion. (Isaiah 35:10 and 51:11)

That You have been and are continuing to bring Your people back from the East, West, North and South. (Isaiah 43:5-6)

That You are strengthening Israel militarily and delivering her from her enemies. (Isaiah 41: 10-16)

That the nations are bringing back Your people in their arms and on their shoulders. (Isaiah 49:22)

That You are bringing life from the dead as more and more of Your people recognize their Messiah. (Romans 11:15)

“Awake o Israel, put off your slumber, and the truth shall set you free. For out of Zion comes your deliverer in the year of jubilee. Halleluyah!”

That generations of enemies of Israel have taken counsel together against her and many of them have disappeared, yet Israel is still here. (Psalm 83)

That none of this has taken You by surprise.

That on Israel’s 65th birthday we can truly say in the words of Psalm 65, Praise is awaiting You, o God, in Zion.

That You have people ready and making ready to welcome You back soon with the words, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! (Psalm 118:26 and Matthew 23:39)

Security

With the joy and celebration of Independence Day comes risk. The enemy wants to disrupt the spirit of celebration and to cause havoc. We prayed for God’s hand of protection over Israel and over those security forces deployed to prevent our enemies getting their way.

Expose the plans of our enemies!

Place Your hand of protection over Israel during these days!

Guard the checkpoints around Jerusalem!

Please, Lord, use the security forces as a tool in Your hand to protect Your land.

Give all Israel, its leaders, security forces and general citizens, vigilance, alertness and insight regarding possible sources of danger.

Protect us from traffic accidents like those which have caused several deaths in recent days.

Remembrance Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror

Israel always holds its Remembrance Day the day before Independence Day. This year it is on Monday 15th April. So on Monday evening at sundown the nation makes the traumatic transition from sadness and painful memories to a time of great celebration and joy. For many the transition is a painful thing in itself.

Pray for comfort for those multitudes in Israel who are remembering loved ones who have died. (Isaiah 40:1-2)

Lord, break into the lives of many who are hurting!

Spirit of the living God, fall upon them!

Turn their mourning into gladness! (Psalm 30:11)

Give them the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. (Isaiah 61:3)

Give them and may they know that they have a future and a hope! (Jeremiah 29:11)

Take away their bitterness and give them soft hearts.

Pray for comfort for those who feel betrayed by governments. Their loved ones may have died fighting for territories which were later given back to the enemy. Thank the Lord that He has never betrayed them or us.

Pray for healing from bitterness. Ultimately bitterness can only be healed through the blood of Messiah Yeshua. May He reveal Himself to multitudes of those who are suffering.

Palestinian “Nakba Day”

For many Palestinian people Israel’s Independence Day is marked as “Nakba Day” or “Day of Catastrophe”, as they seek to maintain the memory of their forefathers being “displaced” from land and homes in the struggle following Israel’s declaration of independence. This is often marked by rioting among Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, requiring a strengthening of Israeli security. Many people also in the nations, seeking to identify with and support the “poor Palestinians”, have entered into the commemoration of “Nakba Day”.

Pray for wisdom in deployment of security forces at a time when most soldiers would hope to be at home celebrating Independence Day with their families.

Pray for refreshment and strength for the troops who grow weary from watching and waiting. May the Lord be their shield, their glory and the lifter of their heads! (Psalm 3:3)

Lord, protect the emotions of those who are guarding!

Give great wisdom to the security forces and especially to their leaders regarding the use of weapons to control violence.

Lord, watch over the weather on days when riots are planned! Dampen the plans of the enemy! (Job 38:22-23)

Lord, defuse the spirit of rage!

Protection of borders

The situation in Syria continues to deteriorate and one of the consequences of this is that various nations are considering pulling their contingents of soldiers out of the UN peacekeeping force which is sitting on the border between Syria and Israel. This would leave Israel even more vulnerable with nothing to protect our border from forces sworn to our destruction. One option would be for Israel to create a new buffer zone by taking a strip of Syrian territory and maintaining it free of Syrian forces. The nations of the world are contemplating such an option. But clearly it would not be popular in the world if Israel were to take such action!

Pray for the safety of Israel’s borders.

Pray for wisdom for Israel’s leaders, especially for Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon and Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. May the Lord grant them unity of vision and purpose!

May they be like the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do! (1 Chronicles 12:32)

As we see God protecting Israel by turning her enemies against each other in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, among the Palestinians, we can pray:

For His mercy upon those innocent people caught up in the struggles.

For all the believers in the midst of these conflicts that they may know the Lord’s protection and wisdom.

For the gospel to go out in power as many are crying out to God.

For the Lord to reveal Himself to multitudes so that many who are God’s enemies may become members of His family. And that as they come to know Yeshua, they would recognize Him as King of the Jews.

That many who call themselves Christians (especially the Coptic Church in Egypt) would call upon Your name and find You to be true.

Bring revival in the Syrian refugee camps and anoint many new believers to go back to bring the power of Your word into their nation!

Iran

This week Iran celebrated a day they called “Nuclear Power Day”. In the subsequent few days Iran has been shaken by over 20 serious earthquakes, many of which have been in the area of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Show Your power o Lord!

Israel’s Government

The new government is facing many challenges domestically in addition to all the threats from outside. The new Finance Minister, Yair Lapid has to present a budget in the coming weeks. A replacement needs to be found for retiring Bank of Israel Governor, Stanley Fischer. We prayed:

Raise up government leaders who will be fathers to the nation and shepherds after Your heart. (Jeremiah 23:4) May they make godly decisions!

Raise up Your man to be the new Governor of the Bank of Israel who will bring the right combination of prosperity with dependence upon You!

Aliyah

As Jewish people celebrate Independence Day in their communities in the diaspora cause them to ask themselves why they are there and not home in Israel!

As anti-Semitism increases worldwide, cause the Jewish people to recognize that they need to come home!

Wake up the Jewish community in the USA. Wake them up from their dullness, deafness and denial. Make them homesick for Israel.

Bring back the Jews from France and from the UK and let them see as the days grow darker in Europe their only true safe home is in Israel.

Make the yordim (Israelis living abroad) homesick. May those who left in bitterness or disillusionment recognize a new opportunity from being back in Israel now that we have a new government. Awaken in them the sense of responsibility that they should come back to help build their nation.

Empower Gideon Saar, the new Interior Minister, to bring the change and cleansing necessary in his ministry in order to make the way open for every Jew to come home.

A praying body of believers in the nation

Thank You, Lord that you have a growing body in this land!

Pour out a spirit of intercession upon Your people in Israel. Make us aware of the responsibility to partner with You in the fulfillment of Your purposes in and through Israel.

Thank You that You promised, I will build My Church and that it’s happening here in this land in our days. (Matthew 16:18)

Thank You that Your temple is being rebuilt in the land of Israel from living stones. (1 Peter 2:5)

May He who has begun a good work in us complete it until the day of Messiah Yeshua! (Philippians 1:6)